Not Surprisingly, Comcast Still Sucks!

You may remember my previous rant about Comcast. Since my horrific installation experience of last year, I have tried to keep my interactions with them to the bare minimum. Basically, that means paying my monthly bill online. I have minor gripes about that (WHY is my internet provider's website the SLOWEST of any of the online sites where I pay my bills?!?), but not wanting to endure an hour or more on the phone to reach an actual human to complain to, I just deal with it.

To save time, I have my user ID/email address and password saved on their site. However, when I went to log in to pay the current bill, I was told they did not recognize my ID. That made no sense since I was using the exact same ID I have been using for the last 11 months, the one that is saved, the one that has worked all other times. First I wondered if perhaps I had changed my email address I was using there to the one that includes my married name, and somehow did not save that. So, I tried that. Nope. I tried every email address and password I could think of. Nothing worked.

Remember, I was only trying to log in to pay my fricking bill! Throw undeserved money at them! And now they weren't even letting me do that.

I finally realized I had no other choice. I was going to have to do the dreaded deed...contact their customer service. I meandered around on their website first, hoping to find the answer to my question without having to go through the agony of wasting what I knew would be substantial chunk of time. Nothing. After debating the different options, I decided to try to "live chat" in hopes I'd get a faster resolution.

Opening the live chat window showed me how many customers were in front of me. As the numbers slowly dwindled, I thought maybe I'd actually found the secret way to deal with Comcast problems. But, when I got down to 2 people ahead of me, the number then began climbing, instead of decreasing! Wow, way to reward your customers for waiting for help Comcast!

Eventually I did get a live chat person. But when I told him what my problem was, he wouldn't get my account information until I gave him the PIN for my account. I don't even remember having a PIN! I told him that, so he wanted my social security number instead, however, before I told him, he found that I had never given it to Comcast (smart girl, huh?). Eventually he figured some way to verify the account was mine.

But get this. When he looked into my account, he told me that my user ID was the email address Comcast gave me when I signed up for their service- AN EMAIL ADDRESS I DID NOT EVEN REMEMBER MUCH LESS EVER USE, FOR ANYTHING! That's right. On their own, Comcast decided to change what my log in email address was without even bothering to tell me!

This fiasco wasted over an hour of my time. I wish I could charge them for that! They ought to at least give me a month's free service. I'll never understand why they treat their customers so poorly. But at least I have an idea why they charge so much. The week after this incident, I received SIX separate letters in the US mail from Comcast: one to tell me the PIN number I didn't know, one to tell me I changed the password on my account, one to tell me I changed the email address on my account (duh, I had to change it back to what it was BEFORE Comcast changed it on their own!), one to say I had added a secondary user (hubby), one to say that the preferences for the secondary user had been changed, and the final one to say the secondary user can now pay the bill online. Like someone couldn't have put all these in ONE envelope and sent them all at the same time. Or better yet, just emailed the notices to me! UGH!

I have no idea what to expect when I try to pay them next month.

Wedding Pix

Decisions, decisions, decisions! We received about 500 proofs of our wedding photos and are in the process of sorting through all of them. While it is fun to look and remember, it is also confusing. Which ones, what sizes, color or black & white, cropped how, album or not. And how am I supposed to pick a favorite to hang up in the house? Do we go with one that is more arty, one that is romantic and intimate, or one that looks more like us everyday? I haven't figured out the answer yet, but here's some of the ones I'm considering. What do you think?

Defense Attorney Shenanigans

I realize that defense attorneys are often (usually) confronted with representing a guilty person, and have to be creative in coming up with ways to defend their client. However, I lose all respect for these attorneys when they make outrageous claims that are unsupported by any evidence.

In the first trial of this case, I was accused of being a racist by the public defender (PD) after dismissing an African American juror despite her clear bias against law enforcement, a legitimate reason to excuse a juror. The PD also made a charge of prosecutorial misconduct because he said I attacked him personally in my closing rebuttal. (He may not have liked my rebuttal, but I did not attack him.) The judge found in my favor in both cases.

Now I can see that when this particular PD is backed into a corner with a guilty client and little room to argue, he will fling whatever crap he can, at whomever he can. This time he once again made a motion based on prosecutorial misconduct. He asked for the testimony of all of my witnesses to be dismissed because he claimed that the witnesses were out in the hallway of the courthouse during the trial, talking to each other about their testimony, and that I was out there at one point, in a "football style huddle" with them, coaching them on how to testify.

Generally, witnesses in a trial are excluded, meaning that they cannot sit and listen to the other witnesses in the case testify. They have to sit outside the courtroom until it is their turn on the stand. Witnesses are not supposed to talk to the others about what they said. (My four witnesses in this case were 4 law enforcement officers, who obviously know one another, having worked together and gone through the first trial together. ) A prosecutor must talk to her witnesses in order to find out what each knows, and to figure out the best way to present the case. However, the witnesses cannot be told how to testify once they are on the stand.

The first day of trial, one of the jurors had car trouble and was several hours late. I always feel bad to keep my officers waiting, especially the ones who worked the previous night shift, so I like to update them on the status of things. That day, I went into the hallway and spoke with my officers several times, letting them know what the latest report on the wayward juror was. Also, because I have gotten to know these guys over the last several months as I have called, emailed and texted with them about the case, I ended up chatting with them at various points.

When the PD made his motion to dismiss the testimony, he said he had a witness, and called in another PD ("the snake") to testify about it under oath. The snake came in and said that he was working in the courtroom across the hall, came out and saw me in a huddle with all the officers, and heard that we were discussing whether or not driving on the shoulder was a vehicle code point violation. That's it! The judge ruled that had nothing to do with the testimony in our case and denied his motion. However, PD said he wanted to put all the officers on the stand and question them about it. My chief investigating officer was still present, so the PD put him up there and questioned him. He truthfully answered that he had not discussed the case with the other officers and that I had not told him how to testify. The PD was not satisfied with that, and had his investigator call the 3 other officers (who were back at work in another city) and ask them to come back and testify.

Two of the three were able to return, only to tell him that yes, they talked to the other officers, but not about the case or their testimony, and no, I did not tell them what to say. I was glad to have it proved that I did not do anything wrong, but I don't appreciate having the PD try to put me and my officers on trial!

The PD had the nerve to come up to me the day after the guilty verdict and say, "I hope you don't take what happened personally. It wasn't personal." I replied, "Well, it is hard to take it any other way when there was no evidence for your claim." His lame reply, "Well, sometimes you have to do things....". Um, no you don't. You can be honest and have integrity and if your client gets convicted, well, maybe that is because he is guilty, it was proved, and he deserves to spend time in prison.

Trial #4= Felony Conviction #1

This week I retried the case I previously tried a couple of months ago. The first time around, the jury hung 11-1 in favor of convicting after deliberating for 2.5 days. This time, they came back with a GUILTY in less than an hour. :)

While it was a pain to have to do a trial a second time, rearguing the same motions, picking a jury again, etc., I learned some valuable information during the first trial that was extremely helpful to me in deciding how to change my strategy in the second. Probably most helpful was the defendant's testimony in the first trial. Nothing he said then had been revealed prior to that trial, and it was nothing I think I could have anticipated. However, after the first trial's conclusion, I did additional investigation, got more evidence (took crime scene photos with my husband, who took much better pictures than I did!), called more witnesses, and revised my closing argument.

The charge in the case was felony evasion, basically not pulling over when signaled to do so by police, and fleeing with the intent to evade, with a "willful or wanton disregard for the safety of people and property." There are a couple of ways to prove "willful or wanton disregard", one of which is the violation of any three Vehicle Code moving violations.

The defendant was first noticed riding a motorcycle on the freeway in town about 10:30 at night by CHP officers as they entered the road. After first pacing the vehicle at 90 mph, the officers called in the plate and discovered the vehicle was stolen. Before initiating a stop, they called in backup (in the form of an additional patrol vehicle and a helicopter). Once that backup arrived, they attempted to pull over the bike. The defendant made moves as if he was going to stop, turning around and looking at the officers, but then sped and took off, leading the officers on a 37 mile, 21 minute long pursuit.

Other officers took primary position as the chase led into the next county. The defendant got on and off the freeway, and at one point got on using an offramp, drove northbound on the southbound side, and exited using an onramp. Eventually he was stopped and taken into custody. Along the way he also: sped at speeds estimated to be 140 mph, turned off all the lights on his bike, and ran multiple stop signs. It was amazing that no one got hurt considering all the factors involved in this pursuit.

The CHP helicopter that was called for backup asked the Fresno PD Skywatch helicopter for help. The copters use FLIR cameras to detect heat anomalies, and the CHP's unit wasn't working. The CHP copter flew over the defendant, using their spotlight to illuminate him (since he was driving without any lights on) and the Skywatch copter flew above them, using their FLIR camera to track the defendant's movements and relay them via radio to the other officers and agencies. Luckily for me, the Skywatch copter also videotaped the portion of the pursuit in which they were involved. I tracked down the officer who filmed this event (not an easy task since it happened nearly 4 years ago!) and had him as a witness, using him to authenticate the video and get it into evidence.

The first time around the defendant claimed many things. First, while the initial officers testified that they believed the defendant had modified his bike to completely black out all lights (they did see an after-factory toggle switch on the bike, but never tested it to see what it did), the defendant said his fuse burned out and he had done an impromptu repair using a gum wrapper, which didn't last, leaving him without lights.

I researched to see if that kind of fix was even possible, and according to the Mythbusters, it is. However, I called a Suzuki mechanic and found out that such motorcycles have 2-4 fuses to control the different lights, and it would be unheard of for all of those fuses to fail at that same time. However, since "intent" is not an issue with Vehicle Code violations (in other words, all that is required to prove a violation is that the person did the act. They do not have to have intended to do it.), I decided not to call a mechanic as a witness, as I thought that would further confuse the jury. (The problem with the lone holdout last time was that she believed the defense attorney's arguments that intent WAS needed for these violations.) I did not want that problem again, so instead made an in limine motion (motion done before the trial begins, not in front of the jury) to limit the defendant's testimony. He was instructed not to talk about the gum wrapper unless my witnesses "opened the door" by talking about the toggle switch.

At the first trial, the defendant also claimed he did not know he was going down an offramp when he entered the freeway the wrong way. Since the pursuit was 37 miles long, and I did not know the defendant's testimony ahead of time, I had not taken any photos of any of the scenes to use during the trial. However, I had my photographer escort me to the 'hood to take numerous pictures of this offramp. I don't think the jurors thought the defendant's excuse was reasonable when they took a look at this:

The defendant also claimed that the officers maced, kicked, and beat him with their sticks at the concluding scene when they took him into custody. The officers did admit to using their pepper spray on him since he did not immediately comply with their orders to get down, but denied using sticks or kicking the defendant. This time around I subpoenaed the intake records from the jail and the 2 officers who conducted medical screenings on the defendant before he was admitted there. That showed the defendant did not have any serious medical issues and even though he claimed to have asthma, was not having any difficulty breathing, despite the pepper spray.

I did additional in limine motions to restrict the defendant from testifying about irrevelant matters (his training and experience in riding motorcycles and his supposed competitions for charity). The judge had overruled my objections on those topics during the course of the first trial, but granted my in limine motions to keep that out of the trial to begin with this time.

Because of the additional evidence, the limitations put on the defendant's testimony, and a more clear explanation of the law in my closing, the jury was able to make their decision much easier and quicker. Such a relief to me.

I'll need to do a second post to talk about some of the shenanigans of the defense attorney. Look for that later!

Happy Halloween!

And While We're At It, SPEAK ENGLISH!

Brilliant police in Dallas have been ticketing Spanish-speaking drivers for the last 3 years for not speaking English...despite the fact that there is no law for that "offense". However, it seems like there is some needless drama on both sides. The police are blaming a new officer (um, then why has this been happening for THREE YEARS?!?), while the Spanish-speaking woman cited, both in the article and with this ticket, was taken to the emergency room because of her "stress" over the ticket.

Hello? Doesn't she know she ought to sue for infliction of emotional distress? I'm sure she could turn this bogus charge into millions. (Insert rolling eyes here.)

Married and More in Love

The wedding and reception were perfect! Exactly everything we wanted and nothing that we didn't. The day began with my daughter maid-of-honor Erin and me getting our makeup and hair done together. Fun and loved the results! My hair stylist did an exceptional job on both of us. Just wish I could wear my hair like that more often.

As we were getting our hair done, the boys (Peter, best man Bryce and my son and escort down the aisle, Andrew) were having their photos taken. Can't wait to see those! Rather than having a late bride, this bride was ready and waiting, wondering what was taking the boys so long!

We took a bunch of pictures before the ceremony, some inside the Downtown Club, and some outside. Can't wait to see those too! Think there are going to be some great ones. People started arriving before we were finished, so we wrapped that up and went back to our separate rooms.

Now, the plan had been for Andrew to walk Peter's grandmother down the aisle as soon as the guests were all seated. He was then to return to the back and escort my parents in. He did that just fine. However, despite my numerous reminders to him ahead of time that he was walking down that aisle THREE times, he forgot to come back after walking my parents in, and took a solitary stroll down the aisle alone, asking Peter what he was supposed to do. "Go get your mom," he was told, and he took his time meandering back to the room Erin and I were waiting in. From our end, we couldn't figure out where Andrew was or why he was taking so long to come back. When Erin finally saw him, she was motioning and "yelling" without yelling to get him to hurry up and get back to us. It was so funny! Here she was all dressed up, and still being the big, bossy sister.

He finally made it back there, cuing Erin's boyfriend to begin the music for her entrance. Andrew and I then made it in together. I loved having both of them involved and there. :)

Judge Snyder, a magistrate judge at the federal district court here, performed the ceremony. I had appeared before her as a law clerk while interning at the US Attorney's Office, and always appreciated how personable she was, making efforts to connect with everyone in the courtroom. She was the perfect choice, and took the ceremony text we had written, and interspersed it with excerpts from letters we had written to her separately about our relationship and feelings for each other, and some other appropriate and meaningful quotes and thoughts. It ended up being so personal and touching, and completely "us".

We took a few family group photos after the ceremony and then enjoyed the reception, mingling with our guests. It was fun and a bit humbling to see so many people there to celebrate our special day with us. The toasts given by friends and family members were so sweet, thoughtful and special. Probably the only thing I wish had been videotaped. All were touching and heartfelt, and none of the rambling, embarrassing business that brides dread.

The cake (white cake with champagne custard with Grand Marnier) was so delicious! We shared our initial piece, and then a second. And brought the top layer (chocolate cake, with chocolate raspberry truffle filling) with us on the honeymoon to Monterey. We had a wonderful time there, with some outstanding meals, fun adventures, and plenty of time to just relax and enjoy each other. Lots of great memories! :)

There's nothing like marrying your best friend, surrounded by your closest family and friends. Truly a day to treasure.